Chicago Transit Authority
Reviewed by:
Matt Montoya, on june 19, 2006 1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Sound: Chicago combined Jazz, with Rock and their guitarist, Terry Kath, has a good "Hendrix" sound. Some of their songs can be called Adult Contemporary, and others can be called Hard Rock, depending on the composer. One thing is for sure; they're an awesome band one of the greatest sounds of all time. If you don't think my opinion alone is enough to prove that they're awesome, consider this; After one of their concerts, a man tapped the back of one of the band members and said that he loved the trumpets in the songs, and that their guitar player was better than him. That man was Jimi Hendrix. // 10

Lyrics: The lyrics are good, but there is far more to this album than just lyrics. Here is my individual review of each song:
01. Introduction - a good title for an opening song on a debut album, it was one of the few songs written by Terry Kath, and some parts are more hard, and others are very soft.
02. Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? - a great song one a one-minute free form piano intro, played by Robert Lamm. The song also has great vocals.
03. Beginnings - an adult contemporary song with good acoustic guitar and a good outro. Their is also a good drum and percussion solo at the end.
04. Questions 67 And 68 - an okay song, but not one of the best.
05. Listen - awesome song with great bass and vocals.
06. Poem 58 - one of the best on the album with a great intro and a spectacular solo that makes "Freebird" look overrated.
07. Free Form Guitar - antoher Kath composition, which is just nothing but guitar, no other instruments. The guitar sounds like a motorcycle, and it also sounds like a Jimi Hendrix concert jam session.
08. South California Purples - an okay song, but not one of the highlights of the album.
09. I'm A Man - awesome guitar, keyboard, vocals, bass and percussion. It has a good chorus and intro, and is probably the hardest song, next to "Free Form Guitar". Terry Kath has very talented guitar work with the use of a wah-pedal.
10. Prologue, August 29, 1968 - not really a song, it's just the intro to track 11.
11. Someday (August 29, 1968) - a great live jam session song.
12. Liberation - a very long jam session song that starts out with the band tuning the instruments. // 9

Overall Impression: This is one of the best Chicago albums, "I'm A Man" and "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" are the highlights of the album. Chicago is one of the best bands of all time, and no band could go wrong fusing jazz with rock. The album has a song for everybody, and I will listen to it for a long time. // 10

One of my favorite songs was also 25 or 6 to 4 because of its awesome solo. Not only does Chicago sound great on all of their albums, they play great live(saw them at Porter County Fair, Indiana). The musical talent of the group is outstanding. Thank you Chicago for a great show and happy 40th Anniversary!!!